Maine Antique Digest, December 2016

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28-D Maine Antique Digest, December 2016
- AUCTION -
28-D
William A. Smith, Inc., Plainfield, New Hampshire
Court Cupboard
Sells for $18,400
by Jackie Sideli
Photos courtesy William A. Smith, Inc.
It was a great day for lovers of period American furniture and fine jewelry at William Smith’s
Labor Day antiques auction on September 5, held at the company headquarters in Plainfield,
New Hampshire. The hall was packed full of fine art, Pilgrim-Century furniture, and good
American country.
A banjo clock, in its nearly impossible-to-find original shipping crate, labeled “Warranted by
William Cummens” and illustrated in R.W. Husher and W.W. Welch’s A Study of Simon Willard’s
Clocks (pp. 99 and 100), opened at $3000 and ultimately brought $7475 (includes buyer’s
premium). Another banjo clock, early 19th century, with its dial signed by John Stowell and the
tablet signed “Fisherfield Pond, N.H.” had been found in an attic in Greenwich, Connecticut. It
sold for $9775.
Estate jewelry got plenty of attention. An 18k gold,
sapphire, and diamond necklace, with approximately
12.5 carats of diamonds and 6.5 carats of dark blue
sapphires and an approximately 6.5-carat medium
blue sapphire drop, brought $10,350. An emerald
and diamond ring with an approximately 7.35-
carat emerald-cut emerald in a diamond-encrusted
platinum setting opened at $2000 and sold for $4025.
An 18k yellow gold-leaf pin, signed “Van Cleef &
Arpels,” with 1.5 carats of emeralds and .75 carats of diamonds, brought $4025. An 18k gold
chain by Buccelati, Italy, 14" long, sold for $2760. An Art Deco diamond, sapphire, and platinum
bracelet, with approximately 2.5 carats of diamonds and 7" long, sold to a buyer at the auction
for $4887.50.
A stylish Federal bowfront mahogany chest with ebony-banded inlay was dated from around
1785 and brought $1495. Among the Oriental rugs offered was a 19th-century Heriz measuring
10' x 12'5". It sold for $1265. An antique Oriental rug, a Kirman with birds, measuring 4'7" x 7',
brought $1265. An antique Oriental room-size rug, measuring 9'7" x 13', sold for $1840.
A rare Pilgrim-Century oak, maple, and pine court cupboard, which is illustrated in Robert
F. Trent and Michael Podmaniczky’s “An Early Cupboard Fragment from the Harvard College
Joinery Tradition” in the 2002 American Furniture journal, sold to a phone bidder for $18,400.
An early 18th-century New England Pilgrim-Century slant-lid desk with ball feet, in good old
color, sold for $2587.50.
The auction hall was full throughout the sale, and there was much action from the floor and
the phones throughout the day. Smith seems to have found a niche by keeping his auctions free
from Internet bidding. Customers have to be at the sale or bid by phone, and they do. The focus is
almost always onAmerican country furniture and goodAmerican paintings. The auctions usually
have lots of original paint and country forms scarcely seen on the market.
For more information, contact William A. Smith Inc. at (603) 675-2549 or via the website
).
The focus is almost
always on American
country furniture
and good American
paintings.
This striking 24" x 20" oil on canvas of the Grand Canyon was painted by
Swedish-born Gunnar Mauritz Widforss (1879-1934), who painted scenes from
the wilderness and is primarily known for landscapes from theAmerican national
parks. The painting brought $27,600.
There were lots of bidders on
the phones for this Pilgrim-
Century oak, maple, and pine
court cupboard, Cambridge. It
is illustrated in Robert F. Trent
and Michael Podmaniczky’s “An
Early Cupboard Fragment from
the Harvard College Joinery
Tradition” in the 2002 American
Furniture journal. Measuring
61" x 50", it sold to a buyer on
the phone for $18,400.
There were lots of hands in the air for this large mastodon tusk,
which measures 43" long. After a brief flurry of bids from the floor
and the phones, it brought $9430. Sideli photo.
This 28" x 36" oil on canvas
by Aldro Hibbard—a winter
landscape scene—has
provenance through the estate
of Winifred Hibbard (1898-
1986). It sold for $6325.
This diamond ring with a 2.14-carat round brilliant stone, with a
GIA certification that states the diamond is E color and VS-1 with no
fluorescence, brought $26,450.